Alleged 'captain' of Central District gang sentenced

Updated 10:00 pm, Thursday, August 27, 2009

For the second time in as many weeks, a Central District gang member has been sentenced to a lengthy federal prison term on gun charges.

Jimmy Gene Miller Jr. received a 5½-year prison sentence Friday after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Miller, 24, is a convicted felon and barred by law from possessing guns.

An admitted member of the East Union Street Hustlers gang, Miller was arrested Oct. 8 near the corner of 23rd Avenue and East Union Street after attempting to flee from police and dropping a .40-caliber pistol, according to court documents. In a search of his person, Seattle police found 17 grams of crack cocaine and $880 in cash.

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Addressing U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones, Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Lombardi argued that Miller, since his first arrest at age 11, "has never really been a productive member of society." Instead, Lombardi argued, Miller -- who remains a suspect in two unsolved shootings -- has taken from his community by supplying drugs to its members and contributed to the violence associated with the corner.

"It's a tremendous burden on the people who have to live with the activities of which Mr. Miller was a part," Lombardi said.

In a filing with the court, Lombardi claimed Miller was more than just a member of the East Union Street Hustlers, but had held himself out as a leader of the gang.

According to the statement, FBI agents searching the home of another alleged member of the gang found a Nov. 7 letter written by Miller when he was jailed on state drug charges. In the letter, Miller signed off as "The Captain" and went on to claim that members of a rival South Seattle gang had killed Quincy Coleman, a 15-year-old boy shot to death Halloween eve near Garfield High School.

Miller went on to tell the other man to "stay in contact with me. I'm going to need u when u get out."

"The government," Lombardi said in court documents, "believes this is a possible reference to other criminal activity, including possible retaliation for Coleman's murder."

In the statement, Lombardi went on to alleged that Miller and another man were seen fleeing the scene of a shooting on Oct. 20, 2006. While the intended victim of the shooting identified Miller to police as the shooter, he refused to cooperate with his prosecution.

Addressing Jones, Miller apologized for his actions and pledged he'd leave prison a changed and better man. Raised around crack himself, Miller said "greed, selfishness and stupidity" drove him into dealing.

"The community I grew up in was destroyed by drugs, and I possessed (them)," Miller said. "I am going to try to change. Hopefully, it turns out the way I want it to be."

From the bench, Jones told Miller he should think of his children while in prison, and decide what kind of father he wants to be to them.

"You can't be a father when you're putting your hand on a piece of glass and wishing your child a happy birthday," said Jones, referring to prison visiting facilities. Jones then imposed a sentence six months shorter than the term requested by prosecutors.

Prior to Miller's sentencing, defense attorney Peter Mair took issue with federal drug sentencing laws that place much stiffer penalties on crack cocaine possession than powdered cocaine. The issue, which ultimately had a negligible impact on Miller's case, is often cited as evidence of racism in the application of the nation's drug laws.

"Culturally, white Americans tend to use cocaine and African Americans tend to use crack," Mair said in court documents. "The result is that African American defendants are punished more harshly than whites for essentially the same offenses."

Had Miller been caught with powdered cocaine -- and, more crucially, without a firearm -- he would have faced a 12-to-18-month sentence on the drug charge, rather than a five-year minimum term.

Lombardi argued, and Jones agreed, that the gun charge made Mair's argument moot. Regardless of the penalty assigned through the drug charge, Miller would have faced a similar maximum term.

Jones did, however, take up what he termed "a gross disparity" in sentencing for cocaine offenses. In visits to prisons, the former federal prosecutor said, he'd met men in their early 20s serving life terms for crack dealing.

Addressing the court, Lombardi noted that, while U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has publicly criticized the sentencing standards, Holder has also said he believes stiff penalties for drug offenders caught with firearms should remain in place.